Keep Fighting
by bionsena
Summary: When one of their own is injured on a case, can Gibbs get who's responsible. Warning charater death. Don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo lay on the floor of an empty, dust ridden apartment, writing the initials SM on the blank white wall. The significance of these letters was not yet important, but they were being written in blood.

Tony finished writing turned on his cell phone and whispered "Find me, boss." Then he passed out and blood continued to spill from his chest.

_8 hours previously_

"Morning McGee, Ziva how was your weekend?" Tony asked as he sat down at his desk.

"Grab your gear there's a dead agent at Norfolk" called Gibbs as he walked down the stairs behind them cutting off any replies. When they arrived at the scene they began to process the evidence. The victim, Jessica Trent was an NCIS agent who worked at Norfolk.

"TOD Duck?" Gibbs asked Dr Mallard as he arrived at the scene with Palmer. After taking her liver temperature Ducky announced that the victim had died at least 2 hours previously, along with a very long winded explanation as to why he had been late that included many references to Palmer.

The only clue the killer left behind was a bullet casing and a fingerprint. Gibbs took both to Abby upon their return to NCIS headquarters.

"Gibbs" the Goth cried before hugging her favourite silver fox and retrieving the evidence and a Caff-Pow from Gibbs' hands. Whilst the fingerprint was running through the database searching for a match Abby informed Gibbs that the bullet casing couldn't be identified without the actual bullet which Ducky had already told them had been removed.

"So this guy knows how to cover his tracks" Gibbs said "Call me about that fingerprint, when you get something Abs." He returned to the main office where his three agents were finding out everything they could about Agent Trent.

"Boss she was last seen by her boyfriend Alan Collins" McGee informed him as he sat down at his desk. "At 0200 she was seen taking a cab with him from a bar near the office. My guess is they were going home."

"Well yeah McGee where else would they be going at two in the morning." Tony said in his usual demeaning way. "I went to see her boss, and he said she didn't turn up to work that day. However I did find something interesting on her. It seems that her last two undercover ops have been complete disasters and she barely escaped with her life. It seems that the suspects seemed to know what she was up to right from the get go."

"There's a mole in NCIS, there has to be." Gibbs said more to himself than anyone else. "Tony go back to the crime scene see if we missed anything McGee bring the boyfriend in for questioning. Ziva find out what you can about him. If he was the last person to see her then he's our prime suspect.

"Yes boss" they said together.

McGee went to Collin's house and collected him before placing him in the interrogation room. Ziva discovered that his name was changed when he was sixteen because his father was a known criminal and he probably didn't want to be associated with him.

When Tony arrived at the apartment he discovered something they'd missed. A small white dust. As he bent down to take a sample he heard footsteps behind him Tony spun around drawing his weapon. When he saw the shadowy figure in the doorway he relaxed and said "Oh, it's just you."

The man he was speaking to didn't pause merely held up the gun and shot Tony twice in the chest before making a run for it.

Tony had never felt so much pain. Every movement was agony. He could feel his life force slipping away and knew that he didn't have long before blacking out. He took a deep breath and placed the tip of a finger on the rapidly growing blood stain on the front of his favourite shirt. He began to write on the wall. A clue for Gibbs to find. Tony knew his boss would track him down when he didn't report in. To make it easier for McGee to find him he winced and reached into his pocket to turn on his cell phone. Tony whispered some final words and gave up the fight to stay conscious.

**Will they find Tony in time and catch who's responsible?**

**Do you want me to kill him off or not? Review please.**


	2. Chapter 2

When Tony had been gone for longer than Gibbs deemed necessary, he tried calling him but no-one answered.

"McGee get me DiNozzo's GPS coordinates on the screen. Gibbs wouldn't have ever said it out loud but he was worried about Tony. They had been friends for nearly ten years and Gibbs genuinely liked the guy, considering him to be a younger version of himself.

"He's still at Trent's apartment boss" the younger field agent answered as quickly as he could.

"Let's go get him then" Gibbs said making his way to the elevator. Ziva and McGee followed quickly. When they arrived outside the building Gibbs knew there was something wrong, it was too quiet inside. When they entered the room Ziva screamed as she saw Tony lying in front of her covered in blood. "Call 911" she yelled at McGee as she and Gibbs ran to their teammate.

Ziva had called Abby on the ride to the hospital and she in turn had told Ducky. The hospital waiting room was crowded while everyone waited for news on Tony's condition. McGee was only absent because he was processing the apartment for evidence on who had shot Tony under Gibbs' orders, but he called Abby every five minutes for an update.

"Agent Gibbs?" said the young doctor who had performed the surgery. "Agent DiNozzo is in a critical condition. His injuries were very severe and it is unlikely that he will ever regain consciousness. I'm afraid that there is a strong possibility he will die."

Abby burst into tears and sobbed on Ducky's shoulder, while Ziva fought to keep her tears in check. Gibbs however was angry and punched in McGee's number on his cell phone.

"Have you got anything?" he barked down the phone.

"Yes boss Tony wrote on the wall the initial's SM and I found a strange white powder on the floor but I couldn't...

Gibbs hung up the phone cutting him off. He had no time for excuses or explanations. Turning to Abby he said in a soft tone.

"Abs we need you to find out what that stuff was. Can you do that for me?"

She nodded tear tracks on her face. Gibbs took Ziva and Abby back to the office leaving Ducky with Tony. Abby ran to her lab as fast as she could and Gibbs yelled something at Ziva about finding SM before snatching the evidence from McGee's hands and following her.

"The fingerprint you found earlier is still running but this white stuff is dandruff, I'm positive" Abby told him.

"Collin's didn't have dandruff so he couldn't have killed Trent or shot Tony, but I didn't really expect him to have. My bet is with this SM guy whoever he is." Gibbs said.

"Boss we found him. SM are the initials of Jessica Trent's boss, Samuel Matthis. He killed her because she accused him of being the mole in the agency and judging by her reports she had the evidence to prove it.

"Abby, see if that print belongs to him." Abby narrowed her search to Agent Samuel Matthis. 100% match.

"Let's go get him" Gibbs said. They got to the NCIS office in record time because Gibbs was driving. They confronted Matthis in his office and Gibbs noted the white dusting on his shoulders. Dandruff. This was their killer.

"I'd rather die, than go to prison Agent Gibbs." Matthis spat as they handcuffed him.

"If my agent dies, I'll carry out that request myself. Who knows the DA might ask for the death penalty anyway. The murder of a federal agent is a very heavy charge. Add on attempted murder of another one and you can kiss ever seeing daylight again goodbye."

Later that night Gibbs sat in Tony's hospital room as the monitors bleeped softly. He had sent everyone home to get some sleep but he couldn't leave Tony's side.

"Come on DiNozzo, you're stronger than this. Keep fighting."

At their home's Ziva prayed, McGee sat in silence in the dark, Abby cried, Ducky made a wish. But sometimes even hope isn't strong enough to save someone you love.

Tony regained consciousness and saw Gibbs sitting there. Gibbs whispered "Sorry I let you down Tony."

"Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness, and you never let me down boss, not once." Tony closed his eyes, for one last time.

Anthony DiNozzo died at 11:32 on November 16th 2010. But he died with his friend, mentor and surrogate father holding his hand.

On a wet Thursday afternoon three federal agents, a medical examiner and his assistant, the director of NCIS and a forensic scientist stood in a graveyard and said their goodbyes.

"You died for your country, and that's the way you would have wanted it, kid." Vance told him.

"I never got to say how much I liked you" Palmer's hands shook.

"You were taken too young my boy" Ducky's cheeks were damp.

"Oh Tony, I'm going to miss you so much" Abby's voice was choked.

"You annoyed me Tony, but I thought of you as my brother." McGee's face was miserable.

"I loved you Tony" Ziva's tears were unafraid to fall.

Six people stepped back from the grave they had been standing around, leaving one man behind. His grey hair was damp in the rain and he laid a single rose on the gravestone.

"You never let me down either" were the last words Leroy Jethro Gibbs said to the man he thought of as the son he never had.

Wherever he was, Gibbs hoped that Tony was happy.

Invisible to passers by Tony stood with a young brunette woman. His best friend. Kate took his hand and they both smiled as their family turned and walked away.

**Reviews would be great!**


End file.
